Nox Illunis – In Sideris Penumbra (2010)

With all the shit Black Metal that inundates the Metal scene this days, it is very pleasing to find (well, receive) bands like Nox Illunis and their melodic no-bullshit approach to the genre. This Italian band belts out 7 tracks of Melodic Black Metal that will crush your soul from the first minute of “In Sideris Penumbra”.

Before you discard them for being melodic and go and listen to your kvlt BM albums, bear with us for a few more paragraphs. The band’s music might be melodic in nature, but the blasts of blistering riffing and monumental drumming is what makes their melodically driven songs very appealing for ALL Black Metal fans.

Opening the album with melancholic guitars, “Echos in the Abyss” nicely shows both sides of this band. On one hand we have the melodic passages and carefully crafted emotional melodic section, on the other side we have brutal passages of shrieks paired with crushing guitar work and massive drumming. If you want more straight forward songs “Ira Sommersa” breaks out the Black Metal attacks at the beginning, before turning into a full-fledged melodic track near the middle.

With most songs clocking over 7 minutes, the band perfectly balances out melodic passages with Black Metal riffing. Most tracks in this release flow seamlessly between brutality and melody, a rare feat that usually only the ‘big boys’ of the genre excel at. Our favorite song of the album has to be the epic “The Death-Fires Danced at Night”, a crushing melancholic song with a hefty dose of unprovoked aggression.

The more experimental closing song “Evoking The Stars” might give some insight on to what to expect in the future from this band and we are loving it. Overall, Nox Illunis is one of those bands that you don’t really expect much (cliché promo pics, etc), but they come back at you with great music and an overall pleasant release. We are looking forward to see what this band does in the future, but in the mean while go over to War Productions and get this limited CD before it’s gone.

Release: December 23rd, 2010

Country: Italy